


i reached for you, but you were gone

by jcreaus



Category: Higher Ground
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, daisy helps shelby heal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28602480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcreaus/pseuds/jcreaus
Summary: daisy wakes shelby up from a nightmare.
Relationships: Shelby Merrick/Daisy Lipenowski
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	i reached for you, but you were gone

_Shelby’s eyes opened at the sound of laughter coming from the girl next to her. She turned onto her side and placed her free hand under her head, the other still clinging tightly onto Daisy’s. Their fingers were laced together, with their arms resting between them._

_Daisy’s head was already turned towards her when she shifted onto her side, so their faces were suddenly inches apart. The blonde smiled, happy to be so close to the younger girl._

_They had snuck off earlier to spend some time alone together. Daisy suggested they have a picnic, so they spent the morning gathering what they needed. Shelby took care of gathering and packing the food, and Daisy stuffed a blanket and a few pillows into a duffle bag._

_Shelby and Daisy had walked hand in hand away from the campus, only stopping when they_ _found a secluded patch of grass under the sun where the school was completely out of sight. They had laid the blanket onto the ground and ate quickly. Mount Horizon didn’t have anything spectacular to offer when it came to food, so Shelby had thrown some fruit, a few ham and cheese sandwiches, and a container of pasta salad into the basket. They were both content with their lunch, knowing that they cared more about spending time together than what they were eating._

_Now, they were laying down together, enjoying the sound of the breeze hitting the trees and the flow of water from a nearby stream._

_Shelby was pretty sure this was the happiest she had ever been. The warmth of the sun was hitting her bare arms and Daisy was using her thumb to trace patterns on the back of the hand she was holding. She felt like she was in heaven, and she was certain nothing could change that._

_But then the sky went dark._

_Clouds covered the once-shining sun, the wind picked up speed, causing goosebumps to form on her arms, and thunder boomed loud in her ears._

_A storm was coming._

_Shelby sat up abruptly,_ _frantic to get Daisy out of the storm before it began pouring while they were still outside._

_But when she went to pull Daisy up by their interlocked hands, she wasn’t there. She looked around, confused where the brunette had gone. The blanket they had been laying on was gone, as was the basket full of their leftovers and the sweatshirt she had taken off earlier._

_“Kitten,” a voice boomed from behind her._

_Shelby squeezed her eyes shut, knowing exactly who was calling for her._

_“Are you awake?”_

_Her stepfather always asked her that question when he snuck into her room at night, after her mom and younger sister had fallen asleep. She usually was awake, scared that he might sneak into her room and force her to do things she didn’t want to do. He showed up almost every single night, but it still scared Shelby whenever his shadow appeared at her door._

_“I don’t want to,” Shelby pleaded, her eyes still closed. She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around herself._

_“I didn’t ask if you wanted to,” he grumbled. “Come here.”_

_Shelby stayed put, burying her face into her knees. She hated that he did this to her, but no one was there to save her. Not even her own mother._

_She felt a hand grip her shoulder tightly, urging her to turn around. He tugged her shoulder toward him as an attempt to get her to move, but she didn’t budge. Shelby was pretty sure she was frozen with fear, her body not letting her give in to him again. But she knew she would. She had to in order to protect Jess._

-

“Shelby!”

She jerked awake at the sound of her name, her eyes opening quickly and landing on the only face she wanted to see right now.

Daisy.

“You were having a nightmare,” the brunette whispered, her left hand moving from the small of Shelby’s back to push a piece of hair behind her ear that had fallen onto her face.

Shelby wondered if she had woken up any of the other girls, so she used her elbow to prop herself up. She looked around, but everyone else seemed to be asleep. Thank god.

“Come with me.”

Daisy took Shelby’s hand in hers and helped her stand up. She led them to the back of the room where the communal bathroom was and shut the door behind them. Daisy sat down onto the cool tile, carefully tugging Shelby’s hand so she would do the same.

They sat shoulder-to-shoulder with their backs against the wall for a few minutes while Shelby tried to even out her breathing. She still hadn’t spoken, but Daisy was being patient with her.

_Like always_ , Shelby thought.

Tears filled her eyes, the numb feeling she had woken up with inevitably diminishing.

Shelby hated crying. She found it pathetic. Especially because she was sitting on the bathroom floor with nearly a dozen girls sleeping on the other side of the wall.

She rested her head on Daisy’s shoulder, knowing that being as close as she could be to the younger girl would bring her more comfort than anything else. Daisy was still holding onto her hand tightly, and it didn’t seem like she was going to let go anytime soon.

Shelby was beyond grateful for Daisy. She had shown up at Mount Horizon a few weeks ago and immediately saw through all of Shelby’s bullshit. It scared her that some random girl could see all of her scars that she had tried so hard to hide in fear of being judged by her classmates and group leaders.

But Daisy never judged her. In fact, she did the opposite. She did something that Shelby was certain no one would ever care enough to do for her.

She helped her heal.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Her voice was soft, as to not startle the blonde beside her.

Shelby nodded slightly against Daisy’s shoulder, pausing before she turned her body to face the girl. She crossed her legs, never letting go of Daisy’s hand. She was certain that the contact was the only thing keeping her from going over the edge. Daisy must’ve known that because she didn’t let go either.

Shelby breathed in deeply, wanting to get rid of the lump in her throat that might keep her from opening up to Daisy. The younger girl squeezed her hand gently, which was all Shelby needed.

“My stepdad was coming,” she let out a shaky breath.

Every nightmare she had was about him, and Daisy knew that. However, what Daisy didn’t know, was that she had been in the dream, too. This particular dream was a recurring one for Shelby, but every time she told the brunette about it, she left out the beginning. The part when her and Daisy were somewhere safe, with a yellow tint making everything seem warm and comforting. It was blissful, and Shelby was more than happy to be there with Daisy. But the only part Shelby shared with the other girl was when the darkness took over and her stepfather appeared.

“You were there,” tears filled her eyes, “but then you weren’t.” The lump in her throat came back and she knew she was going to struggle to explain the entire thing in detail. She opted for a few simple words instead, “I needed you, Daisy.”

Her tear-filled eyes closed at the memory, and Daisy took that as her cue to wrap her arms around the blonde. She scooted towards Shelby, so they were shoulder-to-shoulder again. She pulled the girl into a hug, desperate to have her close enough that she felt safe in her arms.

Shelby blinked and tears fell freely from her eyes. She rested her head on Daisy’s shoulder again, but this time burrowed her face into the girl’s neck. She didn’t care that she was being vulnerable. Right now, all she needed was to be as close to Daisy as she could get.

After a few moments of silence, Shelby spoke again, “I reached for you, but you were gone.”

That’s when it clicked for Daisy. In the nightmare, she must’ve left Shelby alone with her stepfather.

“I’m here now,” she said firmly. Daisy pressed a kiss to the top of Shelby’s head and pulled the girl closer. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> uh this is the first daisy/shelby fic on this website, so that's cool i guess.
> 
> come say hi to me on tumblr (@jcreaus) or tiktok (@sabrinajareau) !
> 
> have a good day/night :)


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